Tehillim 119:20
גָּרְסָה נַפְשִׁי לְתַאֲבָה אֶל-מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ בְכָל-עֵת
garsah nafshi letaavah el-mishpateicha vechol-et
My soul is consumed with the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times.
Another interpretation says: I am "consumed with the longing" to study, but the obstructions prevent me. As a result, "my soul is consumed" and shattered. Every time I am forced to remain idle from the Torah, "my soul" shatters from "the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times."
Even when there is no need for me to study the practical Halachah, I study Torah out of passion and with great dedication. King David thus explains the reason for his deep desire to know the secrets of the Torah - his longing did not stem from the body but from the soul. "My soul is consumed with the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times."
Some perceive the present verse as a petition: "Consume" - break away - "my soul" from the external husk that obstructs me from keeping the mitzvot. Man's physical nature gives rise to a desire for money, for instance, and this can make him commit robbery. But if You will "consume" - break away - "my soul" from the material, it will be "consumed" instead "with longing"... "for Your ordinances at all times."
Rava said, "Let a man study even though he forgets. Let him study even if he does not know what he is saying. For it says, 'My soul studies (leta'avah) [out of desire].' It does not say (tachanah) [to grind it fine]. Rashi explains, "In my passion for Torah learning, I would break it up (proceed to analyze it in detail) despite my limited capacity to grind very fine; I was actually incapable of in-depth study."
Torah learning is unlike any worldly commodity, since a person does not usually devote himself to other pursuits all the time. Today he may devote himself to this field of knowledge, and tomorrow to another. Not so the Torah, of which it says, "You will meditate in it day and night" (Yehoshua 1:8). Every day and every moment the student perceives new things. Even if he has already studied the matter before, novel insights are revealed to him. That is what King David says here, "My soul is consumed with the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times."
Tehillim 119:1 - Tehillim 119:2 - Tehillim 119:3 - Tehillim 119:4 - Tehillim 119:5 - Tehillim 119:6 - Tehillim 119:7 - Tehillim 119:8 - Tehillim 119:9 - Tehillim 119:10 - Tehillim 119:11 - Tehillim 119:12 - Tehillim 119:13 - Tehillim 119:14 - Tehillim 119:15 - Tehillim 119:16 - Tehillim 119:17 - Tehillim 119:18 - Tehillim 119:19
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